


Your Face

by lanalua



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Bad First Impressions, M/M, Meet-Cute, Mentions of Kevin/Jeremy/Jean, Misunderstandings, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-17
Updated: 2017-11-17
Packaged: 2019-02-03 16:17:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12751797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lanalua/pseuds/lanalua
Summary: Each of Andrew's drawings of his soulmate is different: different haircut, hair color, eye color... That can't be good.





	Your Face

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic! Criticism is welcome, but please be kind!  
> This soulmate AU idea isn't mine, but I can't find the Teen Wolf fic that inspired it. If you find it, let me know and I'll credit it!

Neil drew his soulmate in his little notebook. His features were familiar, the light hair covering his forehead, brown eyes that seemed a little mocking, a serious mouth with thin lips… Neil saw it all in his mind and his hands translated it to paper. He saw that face so often in his mind he could probably draw it with his eyes closed by now. After everything that had happened in his life, his soulmate was the only constant. 

His mother had told him he should stop drawing, since it would make him more recognizable if people knew what his soulmate looked like, but the urge was there, as it was in most people, and his hands started to hurt a lot if he spent too long without putting the other boy’s face to paper, and he would get a terrible headache. So he sneaked little doodles here and there, in small notebooks that could be thrown out or burned when they needed to move fast.

Today he had time, and so he enjoyed drawing all of the details in his soulmate’s face, everything he could see so clearly in his mind’s eye. A tiny scar on the bridge of his nose, a beauty mark near his jawline, small ears mostly hidden by his hair… He would have to throw this one away too, but the process of drawing was always pleasant, and it kept the pain at bay. Neil wondered if he’d ever get to meet this mysterious boy.

* * *

 

Andrew entered the living room and promptly threw a balled up sheet of paper in the trashcan.

“Different again?” Asked Nicky, who never did learn when to shut up. He kept smiling, despite the glare Andrew sent his way.

Aaron kept his eyes on the television, focused on the videogame he and Nicky had been playing. Kevin was in his room, probably watching some Exy game, or chatting with Jeremy or Jean. Andrew didn’t know, nor did he care at the moment. He lit a cigarette and opened the window, sitting on top of the counter to smoke.

“I keep telling you, maybe he’s a model or something, and that’s why his looks always change so drastically,” Nicky insisted. “He’s certainly pretty enough for it. You’re such a lucky bastard.” 

Andrew just gazed at him steadily. “He can’t be a model.”

“Sure he can!” Scoffed Nicky. 

“Not with all the scars on his face, he can’t.” 

Nicky’s jaw was hanging open, and even Aaron had paused his game to stare at Andrew.

“Scars?”

* * *

His father was dead. He was under the protection of the FBI. The Moriyamas were keeping him alive so long as he was profitable enough, so apparently Neil was finally free to play Exy.

“We have already found a team that’s willing to accept you. We expect you to make Court in two years at most.” 

Neil looked dubiously at Ichirou, the young Moriyama boss. The man was definitely intimidating, but Neil had lived his whole life with intimidating. He was used to it, but it still made him wary.

“Yeah, okay. I don’t think that’s going to be a problem,” answered Neil. He knew he was a good player, and if he wanted to stay on the Moriyama’s good graces, he couldn’t show weakness.

“It won’t,” was Ichirou’s curt reply. Behind him, Neil could see a painting in watercolor of a girl with straight dark hair and a long dress. Probably Ichirou’s soulmate, then. 

“Was there anything else, sir?” Neil asked politely. 

“No. My secretary will arrange for you to start transferring the money into our accounts as soon as you finalize your contract with the Foxes. You may leave now.” 

Nodding, Neil left the room, thinking to himself. He had been sure he wasn’t even going to be alive this year, and now he was looking at a lifetime of playing Exy, not having to run anymore, not fearing when his lies would catch up, not having to change his name, his looks… It was almost too good to be true. The only thing that had remained the same had been his soulmate’s face, his mocking eyes, always looking steadily at him like he knew something Neil didn’t. Maybe Neil would even get to meet him, eventually, and wasn’t that a heady thought.

* * *

“Why don’t you ever show us your soulmate’s face?” Asked Kevin one day, while emptying out a trash can filled to the brim with discarded drawings of Andrew’s soulmate. 

“Why do you care?” Asked Andrew, dispassionately. Kevin had two soulmates, both of whom he’d already met. The fact that all three were Exy players had definitely helped, though they were doing the long distance thing now, since they played for different teams.

“I don’t. But we might help you find him,” replied Kevin, with a shrug.

“Who says I even want to find him?” 

“Suit yourself,” Kevin graced him with an eye roll.

* * *

Neil was being introduced to the team today, right after signing his contract. He was a little nervous, but mostly he just wanted to get on the court and play. 

“Have you been following the season?” Asked the assistant coach while leading Neil to the meeting room where the team was waiting for him.

“Not really,” said Neil. He hadn’t been able to. What with never staying long in one place, then being kidnapped, and then in hiding, Neil had only seen a couple of the Foxes games.

“We got a great goalkeeper this season. Minyard. A real fighter that one. Don’t tell him I said that,” continued the man, whose name Neil couldn’t remember. Wade? Wayne?

“Ok,” said Neil noncommittally. 

“You probably won’t like him. No one does. And he won’t like you either. Don’t take it personally,” he said, slapping Neil’s shoulder companionably, making him slightly uncomfortable.

“I’m sure we won’t interact much,” replied Neil, walking faster. Since he played attack, he wouldn’t have a reason to get close to the goalkeeper, but it was nice to know someone had the team’s back on the court. One less thing to worry about while he played.

When Neil got to the meeting room where he was supposed to greet his new team for the first time, most of the players weren’t there yet. Neil didn’t mind. His eyes caught on a familiar face, blond and brown-eyed and… very short. Without realizing, Neil moved towards the other man, who just looked bored. After looking at Neil’s face, his well known features rearranged themselves in surprise, and then in anger, for some reason. Neil felt confused, but hopeful. He reached a hand to touch the man’s face, but was violently slapped away. 

“I’m Neil,” he said stupidly. “We’re soulmates.”

“No, we’re not. Fuck off,” replied the stranger.

“I’ve been drawing your face since before I can remember,” said Neil in confusion.

“Well, I haven’t been drawing yours, idiot,” said the other man, turning to walk away.

Without thinking, Neil grabbed the man’s arm. “Just wait a second!”

The man punched him.

* * *

When Andrew finally got to the room where he was supposed to meet the new player, he wasn’t prepared for the scene that greeted him: a wide eyed assistant coach, picking up papers from the floor; Kevin rubbing at his forehead despairingly; Nicky, apparently having fallen out of his chair, laughing on the ground; a couple of other team mates whispering in a corner; a sullen Aaron being berated by their red-faced, angry coach; and a pretty boy with a scarred face holding an ice pack to a bloody nose.

Andrew took a deep breath and muttered:

“ _ Fuck _ ”

* * *

Most couples tended to keep all of their paintings and drawings of their soulmates from before they met. The best ones were showcased in living rooms and offices, to be admired and commented on. Andrew and Neil weren’t most couples.

Andrew hadn’t kept a single one of his drawings, too angry at a boy whose appearance kept changing, which he took to be a sign that his soulmate was probably untrustworthy. He hadn’t dared hope, and never actually expected to meet him.

Neil, being on the run for most of his childhood and adolescence, hadn’t been able to carry around a bunch of paper. He kept a couple of his favourites in the binder with his money, but the rest ended up being thrown away or burned. 

Neither man minded. Their past wasn’t important. Even before meeting each other, they had their eyes set on the future, and being soulmates hadn’t changed that. Trust had been hard to come by, but it did. They built a life together, and their soulmate’s face was the first thing each of them saw in the morning, sleepy, cranky and so alive, ever changing but constant. Drawings didn’t compare.

**Author's Note:**

> So, this was pretty short. I've been working on a longer fic for a different fandom for a while now, but since this was completed, I wanted to post it soon!  
> Kudos and comments are appreciated!  
> Follow me on tumblr: [kind-destroyer-god](http://kind-destroyer-god.tumblr.com)!


End file.
